“But when the Arab nation of Palestine was annexed and designated by the United Nations as a Jewish homeland, Syria is drawn into a fresh conflict with its new neighbor, Israel”...

Which Arab nation of Palestine? What annexation? This sentence is wrong in so many ways. Yes, it was designated by the UN as a Jewish homeland but there were many offers on the table to create a Jewish state and a Palestinian state — ALL accepted by the Zionist leaders and ALL rejected by the Arabs (including the Palestinian leadership).

Also — here is An interesting questionnaire for Palestinian Advocates By Yashiko Sagamor

If you are so sure that “ Palestine , the country, goes back through most of recorded history,” I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine :

When was it founded and by whom?

What were its borders?

What was its capital?

What were its major cities?

What constituted the basis of its economy?

What was its form of government?

Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?

Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?

What was the language of the country of Palestine ?

What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine ?

What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date.

And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?

Other than that — interesting read although I agree with some of the criticisms posted here as well.